Multiple Titles Change Hands At Full Gear (AEW News)

Samoa Joe is your new AEW World Champion.

AEW Full Gear 2025 Samoa Joe
AEW

With AEW Full Gear 2025 now in the books, several titles have changed hands, most notably the AEW World Championship.

In the Full Gear main event, it was Samoa Joe defeating 'Hangman' Adam Page to become a two-time AEW World Champion. That win wasn't without shenanigans, of course, with the steel cage structure for the bout still not managing to stop certain outside factors from getting involved.

Firstly, Eddie Kingston came out to thwart attempted interference from Katsuyori Shibata, and we'd later get Joe and Shibata's Opps cohort Powerhouse Hobbs breaking the chain lock of the cage door with his hands. Hobbs would be run into the cage by Page, who'd then hit a Buckshot Lariat on the Samoan Submission Machine. Unfortunately for ol' Hanger, referee Paul Turner was down when Page went for the pin.

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This is where we got Hook involved in things, as the Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil made his way into the ring, where he tried to wake up the referee. However, Hook turned heel, hitting Adam Page with the AEW World Title, which in turn led to Samoa Joe hitting Page with the Muscle Buster onto that title to get the 1-2-3. Post-match, the Opps' celebrations were cut short by the returning Swerve Strickland, who laid out several Opps Dojo trainees as Full Gear ended with Swerve and Page standing tall.

Elsewhere, the first title change of the night saw FTR beat Brodido to become three-time AEW Tag Team Champions. The finish came when Brody King had been hit with a spike piledriver on the ring apron, and Bandido was eventually put away with the Shatter Machine. And while not a title change, per se, Ricochet emerged victorious in the Casino Gauntlet to crown the inaugural AEW National Champion, hitting Kevin Knight with the Spirit Gun for the win. We later saw Mark Briscoe become the new AEW TNT Champion, defeating Kyle Fletcher in a brutal No DQ match that ended when Briscoe put Fletcher through a barbed wire table with a top-rope Razor's Edge, followed by the Jay Driller for the 1-2-3.

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In the other title match of the night, Kris Statlander managed to successfully retain the AEW Women's Championship against Mercedes Moné, thanks to the Saturday Night Fever. That marks only the second singles loss for Mercedes in AEW, which follows her previous loss to Toni Storm in the CEO's previous attempt to win the AEW Women's Title.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.